Summary
The Supreme Court restored complete waiver of the eligible tractor-loan dues of two small farmers under the 2008 agricultural debt-waiver scheme. For pooled borrowing, classification depended on the largest individual holding in the pool, not the aggregate mortgaged land. The district list attached to the separate debt-relief provision for other farmers did not limit their waiver. A tractor-purchase loan was direct agricultural investment credit and did not attract the special allied-activities classification.
Issues
- Whether the joint borrowers qualified as small farmers entitled to full waiver, despite their aggregate land area and Faridabad’s absence from the listed districts.
Provisions considered
- Clauses 3.3(a), 3.6, 5.1 and explanations 2 and 3, Agricultural Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme, 2008Largest pooled holding governed classification; the tractor loan was direct agricultural investment credit, and small farmers received waiver of the entire eligible amount. (¶¶ 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19)
- Clause 6.1 and proviso, Agricultural Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme, 2008The district-list condition concerned the separate relief provision for other farmers, not the appellants’ Clause 5 waiver. (¶¶ 17, 18)
Held
- The largest individual holding in the borrowing pool was below five acres. Explanation 2 required that holding, rather than the combined mortgaged area, to classify both borrowers as small farmers. (¶¶ 14, 15)
- Clause 5 provided full waiver of the eligible amount for small and marginal farmers. Annexure-I related to the enhanced OTS relief for other farmers under Clause 6; the NCDRC wrongly used it to exclude this Clause 5 claim. (¶¶ 16, 17, 18)
- Purchase of a tractor fell within direct agricultural investment credit under Clause 3.3(a). Explanation 3’s loan-size classification for allied activities therefore did not defeat the claim. (¶¶ 12, 14, 19)
Result
Appeal allowed; NCDRC judgment set aside and District Forum order, affirmed by the State Commission, restored, requiring waiver of the outstanding tractor-loan amount and interest. Appellants awarded Rs.50,000 costs.